TMA 03 PART 3

CLASSICAL STUDIES

PART ONE, Short answer.

The Colosseum was the first permanent amphitheatre to be built in Rome. Its huge size, as well as the practical and efficient way it dealt with organising of events and ways of controlling large crowds in a safe manner makes it one of the greatest architectural buildings ever constructed in the Roman Empire and was a gift from Emperor Vespasian and finished under Emperor Titus.

The building itself is a vast ellipse with tiers of seating for about 50,000 spectators around a central elliptical arena. There are 76 entrances into the amphitheatre to allow crowds to arrive and leave safely and quickly.

The architects had recognised the need for more permanent seating in the Colosseum as opposed temporary wooden benches or the piles of earth used in previous amphitheatres located in other cities. This was after all the centre of the known world and home to the Emperor and so had to be built on a grand scale never seen before.

Firstly it had to be a safe place for people to visit and stay for periods of time. Many revolutionary safety devices were designed and attached to the Colosseum, such as the podiums that were built with top rollers that prevented the wild animals and convicts from climbing on top and into the crowd.

There is also the design of the exterior to consider. Despite the main activity going on inside the theatre, the design of the outside was equally if not more important. What it outwardly showed was very important to the Romans. The games were responsible for ridding the city of criminals and dangerous animals, it had to symbolise great power and splendour. The grand scale of the Colosseum was impressive but not overpowering, it was important that it was welcoming but large enough to entertain audiences in there thousands.

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PART TWO Essay

Although they occupied one of the lowest rungs on the roman society ladder, Gladiators were widely regarded as some of the bravest members of roman society.

A gladiator was considered a professional fighter and apart from fighting other gladiators, would also pit his skills against animals in amphitheatres all over the empire. These “battles” started out as mere ceremonial bouts at funerals before evolving over 600 or so years into the sort of grand entertainment that we now think of as a typical day in the colosseum or indeed any of the amphitheatres around ...

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